Viravain

Viravain, Lady of Thorns
Circle	Seventh
Symbols
Whispered Voice on the Webs	Deichtine, Salome, Afollia and Siam
Allies
Enemies
Patronage	Glomdoring

Viravain is a Seventh Circle Elder Goddess. She is the sister-mate of Shikari. Long after the Gloriana Forest was transformed by the Taint, Viravain attempted to restore parts of the forest to its former glory. As she worked to restore what had came to be known as the Glomdoring Forest, she was tricked by Raezon into pushing past Her limits and became vulnerable to the possession of Kethuru. When She returned, she was changed by the experience and decided to form a new commune devoted to spreading the Tainted forest to all reaches of the Basin.

From a scroll describing the tenets of Viravain:

It is the misconception of some, because the ways of Viravain are challenging and often seem harsh, that a quality such as beauty is a thing to be ignored at best, or perhaps even actively suppressed. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Is not Viravain Herself the most beautiful of all beings? Is it not part of Mother Night's covenant with her devotees to keep them young and beautiful? Is not the dark rose, when it bursts from the earth glittering with the energies of the Glomdoring, the most beautiful of all the flowers?

Nay, beauty is a thing to be prized. It can be a shield, for there are many who esteem a beautiful thing to be harmless while they fear the overtly monstrous. Many, too, are loathe to destroy a thing of beauty. It can also be a weapon. Many are the men and women who have been brought low because they were ensorcelled by the beauty of another. Beauty ensnares the mind. Beauty enflames the passions and clouds the rationality. Beauty causes those who would be your enemies to wish they were your friends. To be intentionally beautiful is the beginning of the way of domination and power, for many a poisoned dagger is carried in an ornate sheath.

Beauty is, of course, not limited to the physical. One can cultivate courtesy or an enchanting personality. One can produce great works of beauty that draw the appreciation of many. One can seek beautiful speech. These things, also, can be your blade and shield if you use them with understanding and intention.

Beauty is not just a means, however. It is also an end. At the end of our struggle, when all foes are fallen, all conflict is over, and the planes are full of a beauty that is not unlike the perfection that is Glomdoring, it is indeed beauty that will remain - an everlasting testament to why we strove in the first place. It is our reward for our labors, and our experience of it now keeps us working when the road becomes difficult. Behold the beauty of the Lady of the Summer Song. Behold the beauty of Her forest. Behold the beauty in the lives of our brothers and sisters. It is an ever-present motivation when all other motives have been forgotten.

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• Created fleas (Source: Book of Tae)

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